By Dan Satherley
A martial arts instructor who was fired from his job at a district health board after taking home a blank DVD has failed in his bid to get his job back.
David Dumolo was hired by the Lakes District Health Board (LDHB) in 2009 as a computer technician. In his spare time he ran a martial arts school, the Indomitable Mind Body Combat Academy.
In March 2010, Mr Dumolo convinced the board to let him run a "bladed weapon defence" seminar to staff at the Rotorua Hospital. He was paid $120 for the two-hour lesson, plus $72 for 10 rubber knives – which he kept – and a $7 courier fee.
Despite great feedback from hospital staff – some of whom signed up as regular clients – Mr Dumolo's offer to host further seminars was declined.
On a Saturday in April, Mr Dumolo was spotted by another staff member, Chris Dixon, taking a blank DVD. Mr Dixon told the Employment Relations Authority that Mr Dumolo seemed "defensive" and his conversation was "unnatural and somewhat forced".
In a meeting with his boss, Greg Martin, Mr Dumolo said he took the DVD because he was going to copy some martial arts videos to use in his seminars. Mr Martin told him the board had not asked him to make any martial arts DVDs.
On the day he took the DVD, Mr Dumolo admitted he'd walked past a Dick Smith Electronics store, but had chosen not to purchase one himself, because he didn't think taking one from work would turn into "such an issue".
Mr Dumolo told the ERA that taking the DVD was equivalent to "taking home paper with notes on it", and he was going to use the DVD to make a video for the benefit of LDHB staff, despite not being hired to host any more training.
He said the board was "out to get him", and did not show any remorse for having taken the DVD.
The ERA agreed with the LDHB that Mr Dumolo, having access to "every area of the organisation" had shown a lack of trustworthiness, and therefore his dismissal was justified.
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